Happy Sugar Life – Episode 11 (Review)

For the last few weeks, Happy Sugar Life has been giving us a non-stop ride to the end of the series. If last week was heavy, this week was even heavier as loose ends like Asahi, Taiyo, and Satou’s Aunt are definitely coming together as Satou crafts a plan to move and start a new life with Shio. Once again we are given one the best horror anime with plenty of psychological tones to go around. As we head towards what I can only assume will be one of the most craziest anime endings of all time, I’m just going to go over some of the shit we have seen this week.

Before we even got to the…cringy ending, we get a look into Asahi’s edge. Asahi surprised the shit out of me, (and I would assume others), as he hits Taiyo with a bat and threatens to strip him of his nails. I knew those Higurashi-esque eyes were a hint towards something within him but this was a nice twist. Naturally, I assumed Satou somehow tapped into her Yandere powers and decided to kill Taiyo but instead Asahi puts some crucial pieces of this fucked up puzzle together.

We are shifted to Satou as she plans to run away but not before she throws her aunt into her scheme. Prior to revealing her situation with Shio, we get some more time in Satou’s past. As a child, Satou was exposed to sexuality in a way that staggered her growth and distorted her view of sex and love. Her aunt clearly is an extreme masochist which by itself isn’t so bad since a grown woman can really do as she pleases but considering Satou sees all of this at a young age is beyond inappropriate. Not to mention whatever transpires between Satou and her aunt outside of that because that looks very odd as well.

Surprisingly, Satou and her aunt exchange words carrying both terror and maturity. Satou does indeed seem to desire stepping into an adult world which is something viewers may forget considering Satou is a high school student. Her aunt is correct by saying that her attempts at trying to be older than she is literally crosses boundaries one of her age should probably not. Exploring sexuality and love are completely normal things for a teenager but pedophilia, killing, and manipulating people in such grand ways are not. As crazy as Satou is, she is not lacking in smarts as she turns those same words of truth back at her aunt in acknowledging that her aunt made Satou the way that she is. I could not agree more that all of this outlandish shit is rooted and attached to the dysfunctional relationship she had/has with her aunt. Both parties definitely need to take responsibility for their actions but one more so than the other. The most cringy and disturbing parts are also the heaviest. It is highly implied that Taiyo is raped once again but this time by Satou’s aunt. This makes me feel extremely bad for him because I think Taiyo would be a fairly normal, average guy had he not been raped multiple times by his former boss, (i.e. Episode 1). By themselves, the implied rape scene and the confirming kiss before the end credits seem to have no correlation but the message is very loud without getting sexually graphic. Satou is indeed sexually and romantically involved, (or about to be), with Shio and the rape scene prior to this leads me to speculate that Satou was indeed sexually abused. Sexual abuse taking place in youth or adolescence of pedophile adults/sexual abuse is very common. Sexual abuse taints the minds of Satou and Taiyo just as much as the domestic violence Shio’s mother endures leads to her mother abusing her. Asahi’s abuse at the hands of his father leads him to violent behavior as well.Nothing about this show is coincidental which is a reflection of the great writing that tells heavier tones of a story without having to do too much for the sake of shock value. Although Happy Sugar Life is indeed a horror show that serves it up plenty of visually and mentally, this anime also serves up huge doses of character and psychological study. Next week is the end and the only loose end left Satou’s obsessive high school teacher otherwise, this story looks to be heading towards inevitable tragedy.